As soon as Kalda had opened up the front door for her house, she was immediately greeted by yelling.

"Where have you been all week?" Romano angrily demanded. "We were worried sick!"

"Did you move?" Veneziano whined. "Were we too annoying or harsh?"

This kept going on as Kalda fell into deep thought, feeling guilty.

Maybe the letter really wasn't specific enough, Kalda thought in sadness.

Kalda had seriously hoped that her letter would have been enough to convince her two brothers that she was on a trip, but now she supposed that they didn't know the difference between a "Week Only Trip" and a "Leaving For Good Trip."

Kalda sighed as she put her suitcase down, giving the two men a big hug.

"Aw, come on, you two," she calmly soothed them. "You know that nothing that you two do will ever make me leave you."

"You just worried us," Romano replied, hugging her back.

"Grandpa Rome would have had a very long talk with you about this if he were still here," Veneziano scolded with a playful smile.

Kalda laughed as she picked up her suitcase again.

"I'm sure that he would have," she said, "but I'm back now. That's all that matters, right?"

"Well, you're just in time for lunch," Romano stated, finally letting Kalda enter the house.

"That's just what I need," Kalda answered in relief. "This passed week has been quite crazy."

"Where exactly did you go, Kalda?" Veneziano wondered with his usual smile.

"Oh, you know," Kalda casually lied. "I just took a trip to look at all of the scenery and countryside. That's all."

"You could have stated that in the note, you know," Romano grinned, holding up the piece of paper in his hand.

"I guess I was just in a rush that morning," Kalda smiled.

"I'm just glad that you came back," Veneziano grinned as well. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"Well, then we can dedicate this week to just the three of us," Kalda suggested. "How about that?"

Her two brothers also liked that idea, grinning.

After Kalda had finished lunch with her two brothers, she went up to her room to take her clothes out of her suitcase so that she could wash them.

As Kalda picked up one of her favorite dresses, a pale blue sundress with white lace, a piece of paper fell silently onto the floor.

She looked at the piece of paper, to her dress, then to the piece of paper again.

Weird, she thought. That wasn't in here when I packed up my suitcase at the beginning of the week.

Kalda picked up the piece of paper off of the floor, unfolding it to read it.

"Kalda,

I deeply appreciate all of the hard work that you did for me this week. It makes me very happy to see that you paid very close attention to detail.

I know that we don't know each other that well and got off on the wrong foot, and I'm not much of what you would call the "nurturing type," but I just wanted you to know that your hard work was appreciated.

I'm proud of you, and I wish that I could say all of this to you face-to-face. When you come back for your visit, I'll thank you again.

Well, I have to go. America and Canada can be a bigger handful than you think. Thanks again for all of your hard work and dedication.

                                              ~ Britain."

To say that Kalda was shocked by the letter would be an understatement.

She felt happy and relieved that Britain had enjoyed her hard work and dedication, and more importantly, that he was proud of her as much as Kalda was proud of herself.

So this is the letter that he was writing the other day, Kalda thought with a smile. He wrote this...for me. So Britain does like me. Ha, I knew it.

Kalda put the note in her desk drawer, wanting it to be safe.

She walked down the stairs, suddenly noticing the silence.

Silence? she thought in confusion. Veneziano and Romano are never silent.

Kalda then got the idea.

The old "Hide-And-Seek" trick, huh? Kalda smirked to herself. Well boys, challenge accepted.

Kalda ran off to go and find her brothers, laughing with happiness as she did so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The week sadly went by fast and before Kalda and her brothers knew it, Kalda had to move on to her next job.

Oh, I hope Russia doesn't actually hit me with a metal pipe this time, Kalda groaned, suddenly feeling sick.

This time, Kalda had made sure that she was specific in the note for her brothers: "Just looking at the Russian countryside this week. Don't freak out. I'll be fine on my own."

It was honestly the shortest note that Kalda had ever written to them, but she was very sure that they had gotten the idea this time.

Kalda went back to the Meeting Hall and walked into the building.

This time, Kalda didn't ignore the teenaged boy cleaning the foyer like she had done a few weeks ago.

"Hey," Latvia said with a grin. "You don't look like a guy this time."

Kalda blushed, embarrassed.

"Who told?" she asked, grinning as well amongst her embarrassment.

"I think pretty much every country knows by now," Latvia laughed. "Russia accidentally spread the news."

"Sounds like there should be quotes around the word "accidentally" because spreading news around like that isn't necessarily an "accident," Kalda replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Latvia agreed. "I'm Latvia, by the way."

"Kalda Hush," Kalda smiled, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Latvia replied. "Follow me. There's two more people that you need to meet."

"Need to?" Kalda giggled. "You're making it sound like that I don't have a choice, there."

"You technically don't," Latvia explained seriously. "Russia has very specific tasks laid out for us, and now for you, and if they aren't carried out exactly like he wants, well...I think that you can figure out the rest."

Kalda just smiled awkwardly, not quite sure how to respond to that.

"Well, he seems pretty nice," she said nervously. "I mean, he did treat me better at the Meeting than Britain did."

"Aw, don't worry about Britain," Latvia smiled. "He's just a strict person. He'll warm up to you eventually."

"I hope so," Kalda sighed. "I think he still hates me after what had happened at the Meeting."

"Well, I'm sure he'll get over it," Latvia assured her with a smile. "Right now, though, we need to go and introduce you to Estonia and Lithuania."

"So you three are the Baltics?" Kalda asked with a grin. "Aw, you're cuter than I had thought. I mean, the last time that I was here, I thought that it was you, but I was in quite the rush."

"Either that or you just ran off when I mistook you for a guy," Latvia laughed.

"Maybe a little of that, too," Kalda chuckled.

"Who's your new friend, Latvia?" Estonia asked.

"This is Kalda," Latvia introduced for Kalda. "Kalda, this is Estonia."

"Quite the tall one, isn't he?" Kalda joked, noticing that she and Latvia were the same height.

"Yeah, but Lithuania is a little shorter than Estonia believe it or not," Latvia explained.

"And Russia is taller than Estonia, believe it or not," Lithuania said as he entered the conversation.

"Well, I think that I have figured that out already," Kalda smiled.

"Ah, Kalda," Russia said suddenly. "Are making friends, da?"

"Yes, Mister Russia," Kalda answered with a smile.

"She seems pretty cool to me," Latvia pointed out with a grin.

"Yeah," Lithuania agreed with a smile. "I can't wait to work with her."

Kalda blushed in embarrassment, not really used to getting compliments.

"Aw, stop!" Kalda gushed with a laugh. "You two are embarrassing me."

"Show you around?" Russia asked, still smiling.

"That sounds fine," Kalda grinned.

"Don't die!" Latvia called to her with a smirk.

Lithuania and Estonia smirked as well, catching on.

"Fear of death is loyalty in Russia!" the three Baltics said in unison, and Kalda suddenly got confused.

What in heck? Kalda thought. Russia isn't going to kill me...is he?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh!" Kalda growled in anger. "How in the world does someone do this?"

"The old "Clean The Whole Bathroom With Just A Toothbrush" trick, huh?" Latvia grinned as he walked into the bathroom.

Kalda saw him sit on the rim of the bathtub, and she glared at him.

"Get off of there," Kalda demanded. "I just cleaned that. Granted it took me two hours, but that's besides the point."

"Only two hours?" Latvia gasped, shocked. "When I first started working here, I couldn't even finish. I had to tell Russia that I needed to do something else because my right hand cramped."

"Ever hear of switching back and forth between your right and left hands?" Kalda flatly questioned.

"That...actually makes a lot more sense now that you point that out," Latvia awkwardly smiled.

Kalda rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"It's common sense," she replied. "You can't give up so easily. You have to show people that you're determined, that you stick to something even if it's hard."

"Then you're a perfect fit here," Lithuania joined in with the conversation. "Just like we mentioned earlier."

"Well, don't get your hopes up," Kalda answered. "I'm working for Britain as well."

Funny, Kalda thought. Never thought I'd say that out loud.

"How did that go?" Latvia wondered.

"It wasn't that bad, I guess," Kalda said. "All of his tasks were easy and simple, so it wasn't very fun."

"Aw, that sucks," Latvia sighed.

"Well, I still didn't mind it," Kalda replied. "I'll just wait and see what happens the next time."

"You are quite the hard worker," Lithuania smirked.

"Oh, please," Kalda dismissed. "I just have a lot of experience. I'm no miracle worker or anything like that."

"Are you sure?" Lithuania replied. "You seem like you can do anything that's given to you."

"I find it weird, though," Latvia said, beginning to change the subject. "How come you live with two Italians but still speak with an American accent? I mean, you would think that you would have picked up an Italian accent by now, right?"

"You're not the only one who's thought that," Kalda sighed, wiping some sweat off of her forehead with her left forearm. "I've been wondering about that, too."

She huffed, not quite sure if she should add on.

"The truth is, I wasn't supposed to be a country anymore," Kalda went on. "After the end of the first World War, I should have been buried under water. I don't even know any of my ancestors, where they came from, or who they even were. I'm just...here, and I have a lot of questions."

"Your name is Kalda, right?" Lithuania asked, seeming to be interested in Kalda's story.

"Yes," Kalda answered in confusion. "Why?"

"I think I know some history books that might have some answers," he replied. "I'll do my best to find them. I have to clean the library, anyway, so I might as well do a little research while I'm in there."

"Wait," Kalda said. "There's...books about me?"

Lithuania looked shocked and guilty about sharing that information with Kalda, wanting to take his words back.

"Sorry," he awkwardly apologized. "I think I revealed too much."

"It's okay," Kalda smiled. "I'll just do some work on my own."

"I promised you that I was going to do it, so just sit tight," he smirked.

Lithuania left the bathroom, Latvia and Kalda being the only ones left.

"You should probably go back to work, too," Kalda told him. "I'll be fine on my own."

"Are you sure?" Latvia asked. "What if you get lonely?"

"Nothing I can't handle," Kalda smiled, and Latvia reluctantly left.

Kalda let out a small breath, getting back to her own job.

This is going to be a long week, she groaned, already getting annoyed on her first day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Letters are organized by date," Russia said with a cheerful smile.

"Oh," Kalda chuckled nervously. "Sorry. A while ago, Britain made me organize his mail by date."

"Really?" Russia wondered.

"Yeah," Kalda answered, "but I'll fix my mistake."

Before Kalda could fix her mistake, Russia stopped her.

"Is fine," he told her with a grin. "Don't mind."

"Well, okay," Kalda nodded. "I was just trying my best. I guess old and new habits die hard, right?"

"They sure do," Russia grinned. "Be sure to look carefully next time."

"I will," Kalda promised.

Russia nodded as he turned to walk away and check up on his other three helpers, but Kalda stopped him.

"Hey, Russia?" Kalda asked.

"Yes?" Russia replied, looking at her over his shoulder.

"How are you so calm?" she questioned. "I mean, if I had made a mistake, Britain would have punished me. Yet...you won't. Why?"

Russia didn't have an answer for her, so he just stayed silent.

"Is it because I'm a girl?" Kalda insisted. "You won't hurt me or yell at me because I'm a girl?"

Russia smiled then, not really sure why.

"Is not because you are girl," he answered softly. "Want to see if you learn from mistake. Only made one entire day, so won't punish you."

Kalda just smiled a little, understanding his answer despite his accent and broken English.

Then, she chuckled.

"Britain should be here taking some notes," she said. "He needs to calm down sometimes."

"Britain gets wound up," Russia explained. "All do. Is part of life."

"And...we make mistakes," Kalda replied.

"We sure do," Russia smiled.

"They were already organized in alphabetical order, Mister Russia," Kalda smirked, gesturing to the letters. "The dates were all the same."

With that Kalda walked out of the room, leaving Russia confused.

Russia looked back at the letters, walking up to them to see that she was right.

He laughed to himself as he shuffled through the letters, understanding her trick.

"Smart and sneaky little girl," he said to himself, pleased that Kalda had done exactly what he had told her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No way," Latvia laughed. "You didn't."

"I did," Kalda replied with a smirk.

"And he fell for it?" Estonia wondered.

"Oh, totally," Kalda answered.

"Was the look on his face one of anger?" Lithuania questioned, becoming fearful.

"Nope," Kalda shook her head. "It was pretty priceless, though."

"Wow," Latvia sighed. "I wish that we were lucky enough to trick him like that."

"Well, I am pretty sneaky," Kalda admitted. "If I had pulled that trick on Britain, though, oof. I don't think that you guys would see me for the rest of your lives."

"Not even if we dared you to do it and it was totally worth it?" Latvia insisted with a grin.

"Probably not," Kalda smirked back.

"Darn it," Latvia said, snapping his fingers in defeat.

Kalda giggled, amused by her new friends and her joke.

To think that they have never thought about tricking Russia before, Kalda laughed.

Kalda realized how happy she was with having some new friends who weren't her brothers.

Maybe my week with Russia won't be so bad after all, Kalda confirmed, telling her new friends how to play the best jokes on a person like Russia since they seemed to be very interested in her sneaky ways.